


Eff You, Jessica Hawkblue

by rebel_ren



Series: Drabbles Against Despair [31]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU where everyone's human, Alternate Universe - High School, Blackmail, First Kiss, Jessica Hawkblue is an ex-friend for a reason, Locked In, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Threats of Outing, Trapped In A Closet, mentioned Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 22:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29815431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_ren/pseuds/rebel_ren
Summary: Alec hasn't seen his ex-friend in years, but she did a number on him, so when he sees her in the hallway at school, he panics and does the only thing he can think of: drag his friend (and crush) Magnus into a nearby closet and shut the door. Tight.Unfortunately for them, the door locks on its own.Fortunatelyfor them, that gives them some time to kill, and Magnus has a surprising suggestion for how they can pass the time.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Drabbles Against Despair [31]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666300
Comments: 10
Kudos: 121





	Eff You, Jessica Hawkblue

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from this site ([link](https://thestoryshack.com/tools/writing-prompt-generator/)):  
> 'Maybe we should just kiss to break the tension.'  
> ‘You’re an idiot.’

It’s all Jessica’ Hawkblue’s fault they’re in this situation, really. That’s what Alec tells himself at first.

To be fair, hating Jessica Hawkblue is pretty deeply ingrained at this point. It’s been years since she blackmailed him to go to the eighth grade dance with her by threatening to out him to the entire school if he didn’t, but Alec has never forgotten that. Nor is he likely to, and you know what? He’s okay with that. That would be shitty enough behaviour from a random classmate, but from someone he’d considered a close enough friend to tell his big, scary secret to? That’s some super mega awful shittiness that Alec will never forgive.

Thankfully, things have gotten better since eighth grade. Alec’s grown into his arms and legs, for one thing. For another, he’s come out to his parents, and though it didn’t go particularly well, with time and therapy, they’ve come around. It’s still a learning process, but now, they do their best to be supportive and accepting, and when they mess up, Alec calls them on it.

Still, while the threat of being outed holds no fear for him now, Alec vividly remembers the heart-stopping fear he had felt back then. He also remembers the awkwardness of spending the evening with Jessica at the dance, of stiff dances and strained smiles.

Honestly, one of the best things about being in high school is that Jessica Hawkblue _doesn’t go here._

It’s a regular Friday. Alec’s on his way to his locker after chemistry class, chatting amicably with his lab partner (and not-so-secret crush) Magnus. They turn a corner, and Alec really, really isn’t expecting to see Jessica halfway down the hallway.

He doesn’t really know what comes over him. Maybe it’s his eighth grade survival instincts kicking in, maybe it’s sheer panic, but he looks around wildly. The only door in sight that isn’t a classroom is the janitorial closet, but Alec doesn’t think. He grabs Magnus’ hand, drags him over to the door that’s standing slightly ajar, and opens it. A moment later, they’re inside and the door clicks shut.

For a moment, there’s only silence.

“You know, there were easier ways to get me alone,” Magnus says, calm and easy and conversational.

Shit.

Alec fumbles overhead. Aren’t there usually strings to pull to turn lights on or something? Or is that just in movies? Thankfully, his hand finds a string and, when he pulls it, a single naked bulb comes on.

Magnus is standing right in front of him blinking against the brightness of the sudden light. Alec doesn’t know if this is better or worse, because now he’s aware of just how _close_ Magnus is.

“Umm… sorry,” Alec mumbles. “I…”

“Hey,” Magnus says softly. His expression has been changing ever since the light came on, and now, all traces of teasing are gone. “Are you okay, Alec?”

“Yeah, uh…” Alec hesitates. “Well, maybe not?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Magnus asks. “Is there someone you’re avoiding? Who do I need to beat up?”

Magnus is fiercely loyal to his friends, but he is also the person who barely managed to dissect a frog last year, so the idea of him actually following through on that threat makes Alec chuckle, which helps him feel slightly better, in an odd way.

“Jessica Hawkblue,” Alec says with a sigh.

“Jessica who now?” Magnus asks, looking completely lost. “Who’s that? Does she go here?”

“Not that I know of,” Alec says, “but she’s out there right now.” He points to the door.

“And she’s… bad news, huh?” Magnus says slowly.

Alec nods.

“Okay,” Magnus says. Alec can almost see his gears turning. “Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to tell me what Jessica looks like. I’m going to leave the closet - alone - and once I see her, I’m going to create a spectacularly distracting distraction. When you hear it - because believe me, it will be loud - you’re going to sneak out of here and get to your next class.”

Alec’s jaw drops, but before he gets out any of the thoughts swirling in his head, Magnus continues, “Wait, you needed stuff from your locker, right?”

Alec nods. Dammit, he did.

Magnus pats him on the shoulder. “That’s okay,” he said. “Plan part two! I know I’ve got a pen here somewhere… aha!” He pulls a pen out of his pocket and offers it to Alec, holding out his empty hand once Alec takes the pen. “You can write the combination here, and I’ll get what you need and bring it to you. You have AP English next, right?”

“Yeah,” Alec says, surprised that Magnus knows what his next class is. “But, Magnus, you don’t have to do this.”

Magnus does this one-shouldered shrug that is awfully cute, especially coupled with that little smile he’s giving Alec, and _especially_ with them standing so close that Alec’s reminded of their slight height difference in new and interesting ways.

“I know I don’t,” Magnus says, “but that’s what friends are for, right?”

“You don’t even know what happened,” Alec says, swallowing hard.

“I don’t need to.” Magnus’ voice is firm. “Clearly, she hurt you, and now, we have a plan to keep you from having to see her.” He hesitates for the first time now. “Unless… you _want_ to do that?” he offers. “If you want to, like… face up to your bullies or whatever, you know I’ve got your back, right? You just seemed to be going more for avoidance…”

Alec chuckles sheepishly, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “I don’t want to deal with her unless I have to. So… thank you. That would be great.”

“Awesome,” Magnus says, squinting at his palm. “The last digit’s a three, right?” Alec confirms the combination, and Magnus nods. “Okay, all set. Remember to wait for the big noise!”

He reaches for the door handle, turns it, and… nothing happens. He turns it again, jiggles it, uses both hands, all to no avail.

“Umm…” he says, looking at Alec. “I think we’re locked in.”

“Shit…” Alec mumbles. “I think it was open? I didn’t think… well. That’s the issue. I wasn’t thinking very clearly at all right then,” he says sheepishly.

Magnus puts a hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. You were caught off guard. It could happen to anyone.”

Alec gives Magnus a half-smile. “You are… really, really nice, you know that?” he says quietly. “Thank you… for all of this. Being willing to help, not asking me for an explanation, not blaming me for getting us stuck in a closet…”

Magnus chuckles. “Well, it does sound kind of like the start of a joke. The two of us stuck in a closet…”

Alec flushes a little. “Been there, done that,” he mumbles.

Magnus lets out a sound that starts as a snort and ends as a giggle. It sounds like pure delight, and Alec can’t help but grin.

“There’s no one else I’d rather be stuck in a closet with,” he says as seriously as he can, which isn’t that hard since a part of him means it very honestly.

Magnus snorts again. “Likewise,” he says, grinning at Alec.

They’re all close again, Magnus right in front of him, somehow managing to look gorgeous and alluring even in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

“Uh… should be we trying to get out of here?” Alec says quickly, trying to cause a distraction before he does something stupid like blurting out his burning crush.

“Yeah, we probably should,” Magnus says. “You try the door, and I’ll look around for anything that we might be able to use.”

Alec fiddles and jiggles the handle. He even attempts to pick the lock before he gives up and admits he has no idea what he’s doing. Sadly, Magnus has not found any spare keys among the broom handles and cleaning products, so they turn to the next best thing: technology.

Though they text their friends, a glance at the time makes Alec’s heart sink. “The next period just started,” he says. “They’re all in class. Or practice.”

“Dammit… that means no one’s in the halls either, so just banging on the door won’t help either,” Magnus says.

They try it anyway, though Magnus insists on being the one doing it just in case Jessica is around. Alec finds it kind of ridiculously charming and adorable that Magnus is so determined to protect him. It makes him feel all warm and cared for, and he tries not to think about that too much before he does something dumb like try to kiss Magnus.

After some banging on the door and some yelling yields nothing but echoes from the empty hallway beyond, Magnus turns around. “Well,” he says with a shrug. “That was a bust.”

“Our friends will see our texts when they get out of class,” Alec says hopefully. “And then they’ll come let us out. So we only have to wait another hour or so…”

“That’s true,” Magnus says. He sets his bookbag down and sits on the floor. Alec looks down at him for a moment in confusion, then shrugs and joins Magnus on the floor.

“I just figured if we had to be in here, we might as well be comfortable,” Magnus says.

Alec looks around at the mops and shelves of solvents and such that surround them. “Yeah… comfortable…”

Magnus chuckles. “Well, you’re welcome to stand if you want to.”

“No,” Alec says quickly. “This is… nice.”

It is, actually. There’s not much space so they’re sitting close together, and everything smells very _clean,_ but otherwise, it’s quiet. And it’s just them. Alec never gets to be _alone_ with Magnus, and he likes it a lot.

They’re quiet for a few minutes, but it feels comfortable, and Alec can’t help but smile to himself, pleased that it’s not awkward between them.

A few conversations start and end. They talk about their chemistry homework, Alec’s brother’s latest muscle-boosting recipes, the latest suspicions about the ill-concealed secret romance between the librarian and the English teacher.

And then-

“Well, if we’re stuck in here… maybe we should just kiss to break the tension,” Magnus suggests cheerfully.

In case it’s a joke, Alec goes for the easiest tactic first. “You’re an idiot,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“That wasn’t a no…” Magnus says with a teasing smirk.

Alec blinks at him, but Magnus is just grinning at him, giving no sign of retracting his statement, his brown eyes glinting with… challenge? Or maybe it’s something else, something more genuine. Alec can’t tell.

“It wasn’t a yes either,” Alec counters, trying to buy himself time.

“True,” Magnus admits. He seems like he might be about to back down, and Alec would really like to find out what the _something_ in Magnus’ eyes means, so he speaks up quickly.

“It was a solid ‘maybe,’” he says firmly. “Which means… you have the opportunity to convince me, o debate team captain…”

Magnus _grins,_ his eyes lighting up, and Alec grins back.

“ _Well,_ ” Magnus says. “Option one: We sit in this closet and talk about random things until class ends and they let us out. Pros for this option are that we may learn more about each other, possibly grow closer as friends, etcetera etcetera.”

Alec chuckles at the dramatic eye roll Magnus gives him at the thought of such normal, boring concepts as _friendship_.

“Cons: no kissing,” Magnus says with a pout that is just unfairly cute. Alec has to press his lips together to hold back a smile.

“Also, we will have to think of things to talk about,” Magnus says with a sigh, “and since this is an unexpected break from the forced thought of our academic system, it would be a crying shame to choose to squander it,” he says grandly, gesturing at nothing.

Alec is chuckling, but he nods at Magnus to continue.

“Option _two_ ,” Magnus says, a grin spreading over his face. “We kiss to break the tension.”

Alec’s heart flutters again just hearing the words.

“Cons: We don’t know how it’ll go,” Magnus says gravely. “It might be terrible. Or awkward. Or both!” Alec snorts. “Also, our first kiss will always have been in a janitor’s closet, so there’s that. Pros... well, kissing,” he says thoughtfully. “And there’s nothing like a good kiss or several to make time pass quickly.”

Alec tries to remember how to breathe. Yeah, sure. Kissing Magnus. Just a way to pass the time… that’s all!

“Also, we would be taking full advantage of our surprise free class period. Not to mention, we’d be giving the system a middle finger. Take that, homophobia!” Magnus says enthusiastically, giving the door the bird emphatically.

It’s a good few minutes before Alec can stop laughing. Finally, when he manages to calm himself down to an occasional chuckle, he applauds Magnus’ speech. “Fabulously done, Captain Bane,” he says with a grin.

“Well, I try to present all the facts,” Magnus says demurely. He settles more comfortably on the floor, crossing his legs, and looks at Alec expectantly. “So? What’s the verdict?”

Alec pretends to consider. “Well, it appears there’s one factor you’ve neglected to include in your consideration,” he says slowly.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

Alec smiles a little. “Whether you _want_ to kiss me,” he says quietly.

“Oh,” Magnus says, seeming like Alec’s caught him entirely off guard.. “I thought that was obvious. Wait… wasn’t that obvious? Do _you_ not want to kiss _me_?” His whole posture has changed, and he looks agitated in a way that Magnus - poised, kind, articulate Magnus - usually isn’t.

Alec puts out his hands, trying to get Magnus to stop for a second. He’s not quite sure how it happens - maybe Magnus puts out his hands too, maybe Alec grabs them - but the next thing he knows, he’s kind of… holding Magnus’ hands? It’s a bewildering turn of events but an extremely pleasant one too.

“Believe me, Magnus,” Alec says, giving Magnus a half-smile. “I very much want to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since your first day here, when all you had to do was smile and everyone in the room wanted to be your friend… but you picked _me_ as your lab partner.”

Magnus smiles back. “Why do you think I picked you?” he asks softly.

“Because I was the lonely, awkward, gay kid, and you took pity on me?” Alec jokes.

“Because I felt like you and I had some things in common, like we were going to be friends… and if I was very lucky, like maybe we’d become more, someday.”

Alec’s heart feels like it’s beating out of his chest. He swallows hard. “Is today… someday?” he whispers.

Magnus smiles, and it’s soft and sweet and makes Alec’s heart melt. “If we want it to be,” he whispers back, like it’s a secret only the two of them share.

And maybe it is. Maybe it’s the best thing Alec’s ever heard, the most secret secret he wouldn’t even have dared to dream of. That Magnus is here and wants him and wants to be wanted by him… and that Alec can have that just by saying so, but that there’s no pressure on him either.

Alec’s heart is trying to pound its way out of his chest, which… shouldn’t be possible if it’s dissolved into a puddle, right?

“I think…” Alec says very, very softly. “That we should talk about this more when we’re not sitting in a closet.”

Magnus nods and looks for all the world as though he’s about to change the subject, which is not at all what Alec meant.

“I wasn’t done,” Alec says quickly.

“Oh,” Magnus says. “Okay.”

“I _do_ think we should talk about this more later,” Alec says, smiling at Magnus, “but I also think that today should be the _start_ of something. And after all… there’s a lot of tension in here… seems like a good idea to break it. It’s a mental health thing, really. Self care, you know?”

Magnus laughs, and it sounds like sunshine and joy. “Definitely,” Magnus agrees, leaning in a little. “I take self care very seriously, Alec.”

“As you should,” Alec whispers, moving a little closer.

Though the closet is small, they approach one another as though they’re bridging a giant chasm, careful and slow. And then, there’s no distance between them at all. Their lips meet, and Alec lets out a soft sound. It’s just mouths, he knows, but it feels like more. Because it’s _Magnus._ Magnus who hadn’t needed an explanation to march out in the hallway and make a spectacle of himself to give Alec an exit route. Magnus, who hadn’t hesitated to put himself between the possible spectre of Jessica Hawkblue in the hallway and Alec in the closet. Magnus, whose silly science jokes and gentle teasing have kept Alec laughing (and blushing) for two years.

Magnus. Just Magnus.

-

Eventually, the door is yanked open, and Alec blinks up at the figure silhouetted in the doorway.

“Ragnor! You’ve rescued us!” Magnus says, scrambling to his feet to give his friend a hug.

Ragnor isn’t usually the effusive type, and today is no different. “Of course,” he says, giving Magnus a few gruff pats on the back. “Although it didn’t look like you were in dire straits…”

Alec chuckles and gets to his feet, picking up both of their bookbags. He can almost feel the phantom press of Magnus’ lips against his, and he can’t stop smiling.

Luckily, Magnus and Ragnor’s AP History class is on the way to Alec’s Calculus class, so Alec doesn’t have to do without Magnus’ company just yet. As they head down the hallway, Alec thinks he hears an unpleasantly familiar voice in the distance, but then Magnus’ fingers intertwine with his, and he forgets all about her.

Jessica Hawkwho?

-

Fortunately, their school is deemed to be ‘beneath’ the Hawkblues, so that one glimpse is all Alec has to suffer through.

But if she had stuck around, Alec would’ve been fine.

He’s out now, proud to be himself and grateful that he has the safety and support to be open about who he is. He’s got awesome friends and the best boyfriend in the world, who had already come up with a buddy system so Alec would never be unsupported between classes.

It’s amazing.

They’re amazing.

_Magnus_ is amazing.

And Alec is the luckiest person to ever get accidentally locked in a janitorial closet with their crush.


End file.
